A Modern Fairy Tale
by Sakshi K
Summary: Natsu Dragneel, one of the richest people in Fiore, is every girl's prince charming. He's got the money, the looks, the fame, he's basically a free gift-wrapped sepfora. Lucy is in distress but is not a damsel. She's fun, chatty, kind of eccentric and a tornado of surprises. With their relationship starting on an edgy note, will they be able to find their modern fairy tale? NaLu-AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Natsu Dragneel entered his office and was greeted by many faces, one of which rushed over to him with her platinum blonde hair. She was his assistant, Mirajane Strauss. "Good morning sir!" she said in her usual chirpy attitude with a wide grin on her face. "Hey! How many times have I told you now? Stop calling me 'Sir' Mira!". "Sorry!" She nodded bashfully with a smile and continued "Anyway, Mr. Sting Heartfelia is waiting for you in your cabin. He says that he is done with the house plan. You just have to tell him what all furniture you want in the rooms. He says that the house will be ready in a month or so." "Oh, that's great. Lead me to him then." Natsu replied with a satisfactory grin. He was finally going to buy a house for his mother, Grandine. His father, Igneel, died when Natsu was only seven and his sister, Wendy, was only a year old. His mother never went to college and was not able to find a good job because of it. She sometimes worked three jobs a day to earn a living and raise her children. She devoted her whole life to her children and now Natsu was the owner of one of the biggest electronic companies, Dragneel enterprise.

When Natsu entered his cabin he saw Sting sitting in his chain tapping his feet wearing an outfit which was a sorry excuse for formals-Blue jeans, a black shirt and converse. 'At least he's wearing a shirt' Natsu thought. "Good morning Mr. Dragneel! How are you?" Sting said with a grin getting up from his seat. "Good morning Mr. Heartfelia. Is the plan ready?" Natsu said sitting on his chair with Mira standing next to him and Sting sitting opposite him "Yes! It is. I've worked on it the way you wanted. Here, have a look." Sting said taking a huge blue print for the house and spreading it out on the table "There will be three rooms with en suites- your room, your mother's room and your sister's room. Then there are two guest rooms with a common toilet, a home office, a study plus library and I also made the kitchen bigger like your mother wanted. There is a garage on the right side of the house which can fit around six cars and a small backyard. If you want we can install a patio in the backyard. So, how do you like it?" Sting explained, biting his lower lip to the point of drawing blood, hoping Natsu wouldn't reject his plan again like he had four times before.

"What room will be on which floor Mr. Heartfelia?" Natsu asked. "Your mother's room, your sister's room along with the study will be on the ground floor. Your room, your office and the two guest rooms will be on the second floor." Sting explained nervously believing that Natsu was going to reject his idea one more time but he was proven wrong when the pink haired man exclaimed, "Perfect! I think Wendy would like to stay on the same floor as mom. They would love this and the backyard is of the perfect size for mom's home garden. They would love it! What do you think Mira?" "I think it's great Natsu." Mira said with a smile. Sting sighed with relief, "So, should we decide the colour schemes?" Sting asked, opening his backpack and taking out his notepad along with two books, one with colour panels and the other with different laminate options.

Sting carefully noted down Natsu's specifications. He wanted Grandine's room to have white walls with brown furniture, Wendy's room to be mostly in the shades of blue with black furniture and his room to be mostly red and white furniture. Natsu explained him the colours of the other rooms in the house just as how his mother and sister had specified. Sting carefully noted everything down trying not to mess up anything. He was surprised when Natsu asked him to install a very small bathtub, the size of a baking tray, in Wendy's bathroom to which Natsu explained that they had two cats at home. Sting couldn't help but smile all the time thinking about how hard Natsu was trying to make the rooms just like his family wanted. After Sting was done noting down all the specifications, he walked out and took a taxi back to his office since his twin had taken their car to work. After sitting in his taxi and giving the driver the address, he began to text his twin sister.

 **STING:** HE APPROVED THE DESIGN LU! Now, I can take a breath of relief! :')

 **LUCY:** That's great, but don't take a breath of relief so early big brother! You still have to see how the furniture is to be made and other small details. : P

 **STING:** Yeah yeah, don't remind me of that tiresome work. Anyway, did you feed Lector this morning?

 **LUCY:** My break's over, I'll text you later. Bye Sting :D

 **LUCY:** Yes, I fed Lector this morning. Don't worry.

 **STING:** Sure! Bye Dr. Heartfelia XP

After almost two months, Sting was able to finish everything that Natsu had asked for. From cat bathtubs to the lighting of the house, everything was designed and the making of which was supervised by Sting himself. He was proud of what he had done. Since the Dragneels had decided to move into the house on a Sunday, Sting gave the house keys to Mira at the office early in the morning as he had a date with his girlfriend. After Natsu came to the office that morning, he was given the house keys by Mira.

Seeing a Cheshire cat for a boss, Mira asked, "Where are you going?", as she saw Natsu dialling on his phone calling somebody while running out of the office grinning "I have to show my family the house right now Mira! I'll work from home!" "Ha-ha! I'm sure they'll love the house."

"Thank you!" Mira just giggled at the sight and began postponing Natsu's meetings for that day.

Natsu was in the back seat of the car with his mother. They were travelling to their new house, he had not been this happy in years when suddenly he heard a sob. He whipped his head around to see his mother's eyes filled with tears.

"Are you not happy mom? Why are you crying?" He asked keeping his hand on his mother's worn and torn one, "Of course I'm happy! It's just that when you're heart is so full of joy, your eyes start to water. Even though it appears to be just a 21 minute journey from our old house to this house, it actually is a 21 year journey. Thank you for all that you've done Natsu. Thank you." Grandine said as her eyes started to tear up a lot more. Natsu tightened his grip on his mother's hand and said, "Stop thanking me, if someone should be thanking somebody, it's me who should thank you for all that you've done for me mom. Now, wipe those tears, let's enter our new home smiling, okay? I love you."

Grandine smiled ear to ear wiping her tears and realizing how far Natsu had come and what a kindred soul he had become.

"When will Wendy be coming home?" Grandine asked, playing with the hem of her long pencil skirt.

"I called her up. She said that she has another class which will last for about an hour or something. Don't worry though, I asked uncle Metallicana and Gajeel to pick her up along with Levy."

"I'm glad that she'll get to see the house with us." Grandine said grinning as she thought of the blue haired girl. Levy was a teacher at the med school Wendy was studying at.

One day, Natsu asked Gajeel to pick Wendy up because the driver responsible for picking and dropping Wendy had to attend to his supposed dying cat (the plead for a leave was complete with tears and wailing over poor little Patricia dying of some cat cancer shit. Cat. Cancer). While waiting for Wendy, Gajeel saw Levy and thought that a mop of blue hair lost it's way and asked if she needed help. Gajeel laughed when he realized that Levy was a teacher.

After that incident, Gajeel started going to pick up Wendy every day and eventually scored a date with Levy. After being together for almost two years, they got engaged and were to be married in a few months.

"Oh yeah! And Gray and Erza are already there. I gave them the house keys before picking you up so that they could show the cook and the maid around the house so that you don't have any trouble." Natsu said replying to Gray's texts telling him that they were almost there.

Gray and Erza were Natsu's childhood friends, who were now the president and the marketing head respectively of his company.

"WHY DO WE HAVE A COOK IN OUR HOUSE? I CAN STILL COOK SON! I understand the need for a maid but a cook? WHY? As far as I remember, That Loxer girl refused to work at our house. How did you convince her to leave her job at that five star hotel?" Grandine exclaimed mortified that her kitchen would no longer be 'HER' kitchen.

"Mom! The doctor has asked you to not overwork yourself. You can cook once in a while but I don't want you to stress over boiled vegetables every day, okay? Don't worry; even I was scared when she agreed for the job after Gray asked her to join". Mirajane had offered Juvia the job to become their home cook five times and she had rejected even though Natsu would be paying her the double of what she would normally earn at the hotel saying that 'It was not good for her resume'. Why she agreed after Gray asked her to work will always be a mystery to Natsu.

"We're here Sir." the driver said parking Natsu's car in front of the house.

Grandine was awe struck. She could not believe that THIS was her new house. It was huge and pure white from the outside. When she entered the house, she was greeted by their beautiful living area. It had black wide-plank wooden flooring with a grey rug in the middle of the floor. It had a four seat sofa in a lighter shade of grey, whose back faced the entrance, which was accompanied by a few chairs of the same shade as the sofa and a small, dark brown and square, coffee table. The wall facing the front of the sofa was grey with the other walls were white. The white walls were filled with paintings from their old house. The grey wall had a little fireplace attached to it and two glass doors on each side of the wall leading to the study behind. There was a family portrait on top of the fireplace. Everyone was in it- Grandine, Natsu, Wendy, Gajeel, Metallicana and Levy as well. On the left side of the room was an eight seat dining table which had a glass top and white chairs and it had a door on its right and stairs on its left. There were two doors on the right of the living area leading to her and Wendy's room. There was a huge crystal chandelier in the middle of the roof at the sight of which Grandine's eyes started to sparkle with awe.

After she was done admiring the living area she asked, "Where's the-" but was interrupted by Natsu who completed her question "Kitchen? It's this way." Natsu said leading his mother to the kitchen. When they entered the kitchen, Grandine was awe struck. It was beautiful with its white marble flooring and brown counters with white tops and silver knobs and handles. Her china was displayed in a tall display rack. The kitchen had tall French windows through which the garden was visible. The windows were accompanied with floor length pure white curtains.

"It's so pretty and so big compared to our last one. I love the whites and browns." Grandine said smiled as her hand made contact with the white silk drapes. Natsu couldn't help but smile either. He was happy that his mother was happy. Their happy moment was disturbed when they heard talking.

"Thank you for showing me around the house Mr. Fullbuster.", a female voice said.

"You're welcome Ms. Loxer. So, you'll be joining us tomorrow then?" Gray asked and they assumed the other voice was Juvia's.

"Please, just call me Juvia and yes, I'll be joining from tomorrow. I better get going now. Bye Mr. Fullbuster" Juvia said, and then you could hear heels clinking down the hallways.

"Bye." Gray replied, before entering the kitchen smiling.

"Why are you smiling like that, stripper?" Asked Natsu in a teasing voice.

"None of your business pink punk! Anyway, congratulations on the new house Grandine. The place is beautiful." Gray said completely ignoring Natsu.

"Thank you dear! Come sit, I'll make you some tea." Grandine offered, but he declined saying that since 'someone', *cough* Natsu*cough*, wasn't at office today, he had to do a lot of work to do and then left the mother-son duo to it.

Just after Gray left, their driver came rushing in. "What happened Max?" Natsu asked seeing the panting driver. "The garage is locked, I need the keys to park all four of our cars."

"Oh sorry.", Natsu said embarrassed, "I forgot to give you the keys, wait a second." He took out the bunch of keys from his pocket and was shocked to find the garage keys missing. He called Sting panicking on the inside while putting on a cool front so as to not freak his dear ol' mother out.

Lucy was in her house taking a bath and relaxing on her day off from work. Since her brother was out on a date with his girlfriend, she was going to have the whole house to herself. Except their cat and dog, Lector and Plue. She got out of her bath, changed and was about to continue reading her book when suddenly she heard her brother's ringtone. She walked into their living room to see Sting's phone lying on their coffee table. 'Forgetful bastard', she thought as she picked up the phone to see 'Natsu Dragneel' flashing on the screen. She picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Mr. Heartfelia?"

"You're talking to Ms. Heartfelia. My brother's not at home right now. Do you want to leave him a message?"

"No! I don't want to leave him a message. I need my house's garage keys! Give him the phone!"

"Stop shouting Mr. Dragneel! Sting's not at home!", 'Forgetful bastard', Lucy thought to herself sighing inwardly wishing she threw the phone in the tub instead.

"Who're you calling a bastard miss?!" Natsu shouted, anger dripping from his voice.

"I didn't call you a bastard and stop howling! You want your garage keys, right? I'll talk Sting and get them to your house, fine with you Mr. Dragneel?" Lucy half spoke, half shouted annoyed by the man on the other end of the phone.

"No, give me your address. I would like to pick the keys up personally." Natsu said in a stubborn voice.

"Fine. Behind Grandine hospital, you'll see apartments for the employees. We live in apartment 104. I'll try and find your 'precious keys' by then. You know where Grandine hospital is right?" Lucy explained the address to him while plotting her brother's murder.

"Yeah I know where the hospital is. I'll be there in 30." And with that Natsu hung up the phone.

Lucy sighed after the call ended and picked up her phone to call her brother's girlfriend, Yukino with pure intention of killing him.

 **AUTHER'S NOTE:  
Hey everybody! This is the first fanfic I'm writing so please review telling me where I'm going wrong and what you would like to see. Sorry about the lack of NaLu moments in this chapter. I wanted this to be for introductions and to make everything clear to you all. I also made Sting Lucy's brother because the story needed a brother for Lucy XP  
Hope you enjoyed reading it. ^_^**


	2. Chapter 15

**Chapter 1.5**

Juvia was walking down the street heading towards her second job when she heard honking. She just shrugged it off until the driver pulled up right next to her and lowered the window. A blush appeared on her cheeks when she saw the man on the driving seat "M-Mr. Fullbuster?" she half stuttered and half spoke tightening her grip on her dark blue purse. "I saw you walking and my chivalrous side couldn't help but pull over and ask you if you wanted a lift so, Can I drop you somewhere Juvia?" Gray asked with a smile on his face. Juvia couldn't help but fan girl over how good he looked or rather how good he still even now. After admiring him for a few seconds, Juvia finally got the courage to speak,

"I-I don't want to trouble you Mr. Fullbuster!"

"You won't be any trouble, get in the car and tell me where you're going." Gray replied after which Juvia sat in the passenger seat and asked him to drop her at a public pool called 'Water Nebula'. After that, there was an awkward silence in the car. Juvia was somewhat relieved that she did not have to talk to Gray, she didn't want to stutter in front of him and make herself look like a confused tortoise. 'He doesn't remember me, does he?' Juvia thought to herself when, much to her dismay, Gray broke the silence.

"So Water Nebula, huh? Trying to relax in the pool before the first day of your new job?" Gray asked with the initiative of breaking the ice.

"No, I actually work there as a swimming instructor for kids." She replied with a smile creeping on her face due to the fact that Gray was showing interest in her.

"Really? Why? Money reasons? " Asked a very confused Gray. 'I thought that Natsu paid her a tonne', Gray thought to himself.

"No-no. It's not for money reasons. It's just that cooking is my job but this is more of a hobby. I hope you you're getting me. Do you have any hobbies Mr. Fullbuster?" Juvia explained while giggling, waiting for him to reply and see if mixology was still his thing.

"Don't worry, I totally get you and yeah, I do have hobbies, especially mixology. I was into mixology during my college years. I still make a couple of drinks for my brother and a few of my close friends. You should stop by my house sometime; I could make you a couple of drinks." Gray offered hoping he hadn't gone overboard. He was just good with words when it came down to talking to women. Sometimes, even casual talk would change into an amorous exchange of words.

"We're here Mr. Fullbuster!" Juvia exclaimed thinking he forgot how a brake works. Gray just nodded in reply and stopped the car thinking that this was a declination of his offer. Juvia just got out of the car and shut the door. Before turning around and walking away, like an ungrateful bitch, Juvia knocked on the window. Gray opened the window to see a smiling Juvia who said, "Thank you for the ride Mr. Fullbuster. About your mixology, are you free this Friday?"

"Y-yes! Friday is perfect!" Gray exclaimed and thought 'She's not an ungrateful bitch after all.'

"Text me on this number, Mr. Fullbuster." Juvia said with a smile, handing him a visiting card which Gray gladly accepted. Why would he not? This Juvia chick was hot and the next week was going to be stressful!

"Hey Juvia! Call me Gray from now on." Gray said with a mischievous smirk.

"Alright then! Bye, Gray." Juvia said and walked away.

'This chick seems familiar.' Gray thought to himself and drove off to his office where he had a shit load of work waiting for him.

 **AUTHER'S** **NOTE:**

 **Hola! I was thinking about keeping the main chapters NaLu with these bite size chapters about other pairings. The format will be something like:**

 **Ch 1- NaLu**

 **Ch1.5- Other pairing**

 **Ch2- Nalu**

 **Ch2.5- Other pairing**

 **I'm still not sure if I would do this or not. I get reviews asking me to continue this pattern, I would. Also, please tell me what pairing you would like to see next. I'll be uploading the next chapter by tomorrow I guess.**

 **Please review!** **J**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Sting sat on Yukino's bed with Yukino on his lap, both shirtless. He was struggling with her bra strap while kissing her neck, when suddenly he heard his girlfriend's phone ringing. Yukino tried to reach for her phone but Sting whispered, "Whoever it is, can wait." in Yukino's ear.

"I-it's your sister." Yukino said as the phone continued to ring. Sting just groaned and picked up the phone to answer it, "This better be important Lucy!" Sting spoke with irritation evident in his voice.

"It IS important Sting! That Dragneel called me saying you didn't give him the garage keys. He's coming to our house to pick them up so, where are the keys my dear brother?" Lucy asked clearly irritated.

"They might be on my desk. If not check the left pocket of my bag." Sting explained

"Let me check and don't hang up!" Lucy said and then her voice disappeared leaving a frustrated Sting waiting for his sister's reply. After almost five minutes, he heard his sister saying, "I got the keys. Bye." And she hung up the phone before he could say bye.

He put the phone down on the table next to Yukino's bed with a sigh and turned around to Yukino. "So, where were we?" Sting asked with a smirk.

Back home, Grandine was helping Virgo, their maid, to set up the silverware in the kitchen when she heard some familiar voices.

"Where's my beautiful sister?" She heard Metallicana say and rushed out to the living room where she saw Wendy, Levy, Gajeel and Metallicana standing and admiring the house.

"Hi brother! How do you like the house?" Grandine asked her older brother with a huge smile.

"It's beautiful, Grandine. Here's a gift from us for the new house." Metallicana said handing over a box of beautiful crystal glasses.

"This wasn't necessary brother but thank you for all that you've done for me and my family." Grandine said. It was true that her brother had been the biggest help to her during the time when she had to raise up her kids. She and her children lived at Metallicana's house for almost a year after her husband's death.

"Anything for my sister." Metallicana said and hugged her.

"Come sit all of you. I'll ask Virgo to make some tea while we wait for Natsu." Grandine said asking everyone to take a seat.

"Where's that idiot anyways?" Gajeel asked taking a seat with Panther lily, his cat, on his lap.

"He has gone to collect some keys. He'll be home soon though." Grandine explained with a smile and dashed towards the kitchen and asked Virgo to make some tea.

Natsu arrived at the building Sting's sister had specified and parked his car. He found the apartment numbered 104, rung the door bell and waited patiently with his hands in the pockets of his pants. The door opened to reveal a female version of Sting which Natsu assumed was his sister.

"Mr. Dragneel?" Asked the female Sting and Natsu nodded in reply and answered, "Yeah and you must be Ms. Heartfelia?"

"Yeah! That's me. Here are your keys. Sorry for troubling you." She said while closing the door. Lucy had no intention whatsoever in entertaining the pinky but was stopped when Natsu stopped her from closing the door and asked, "If you don't mind, can I use your toilet?"

"S-sure." Lucy opened the door to let him in and closed it after that. She led him to the toilet in her room and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

After Natsu was done he came out the bathroom and into Lucy's room which was really pink. It had white walls with a single bed in the corner of the room. The bed had brown wood, just like the other furniture in Lucy's room, and pink bedding. Right next to her bed was a night stand which was cluttered with Taylor Swift music CDs. Then there was a huge book shelf with a lot of books and a small desk with a pink chair. On the walls there were two pictures, there was a recent picture of Lucy and Sting and another picture in which they were kids along with their mother. It was a pretty small room but was really cozy.

Natsu got out of the room to see the blonde cooking in the kitchen while humming some song. Natsu was in no mood to have a conversation with her and decide to leave before she saw her. When Natsu opened the apartment's door he heard Lucy shout, "Your welcome Mr. Drag-ungrateful-neel!"

"Thank you! Happy now Heartfelia?" Natsu spoke in irritation.

"You know what Mr. Dragneel, the human body has more than a million nerves and you somehow manage to get on every single one of them! How do you do it?!" Lucy asked, annoyance evident in her voice. Natsu replied with a sound, "Ugghhhh!" and left.

Natsu went home to be greeted by the sight of his whole family eating pizza at the dining table. Everybody turned towards Natsu when Gajeel shouted, "Pinky's home!"

"Yeah Gajeel! Very funny." Natsu said as he plopped down on one of the chairs and was handed a bottle of beer by his uncle "Thanks old man. This was much needed." Natsu thanked his uncle as he took a large gulp from the bottle.

"Rough day?" Levy asked while taking a sip from her soda.

"No, not exactly a rough day. I just had an encounter with a rather unique specimen." Natsu replied taking a sip from his beer.

Grandine just giggled to her son's reply while pouring herself some more wine and asked, "Ignore that specimen for now son. It's family pizza day."

Yes, they were the kind of family who had family pizza days. The generally did this once a month. Other families had family dinners but their family had family pizza days. The only rule for pizza day was that they ate pizza. Duh.

The night was going great. Gajeel and Natsu were bickering about something, Grandine was talking to Levy about how she was liking the family and Metallicana was asking if Wendy had a boyfriend or not, which she did not much to her brothers' and uncle's relief. Every male in the family was protective over Wendy and why would they not be? She was a beautiful 20 year old woman with long, dark blue hair. She was not very tall, just as tall as Levy and could pass as a 15 year old if she wanted to. Let's just say any guy would be lucky to have Wendy. She was beautiful, smart and kind.

They all had a nice get together but everyone left early as it was Monday the next day and everyone had work. They bid their goodbyes and left.

The next morning, after both of her children left, Grandine was in the kitchen making a list with Juvia for grocery shopping. When the list was done, Juvia said that she'll go and give the list to Virgo but was stopped by Grandine who said that she'll go and get the groceries herself.

When Grandine was walking towards a nearby store, she suddenly started to get a little breathless. She panicked and opened up her phone to call Gildarts, Her friend and the head doctor at the hospital owned by her son.

"H-hello Gildarts? I can't breathe! I'm in front of a grocery store called the nature's basket please get someone to pick me up!" Grandine spoke, breathlessness evident in her voice.

"I'll send someone there as soon as I can!" Gildarts exclaimed sending an ambulance to where Grandine said she was and hung up the phone.

Grandine couldn't stand anymore. She collapsed onto the ground trying to sit but kept on failing. All she could do was hope Gildarts was hurrying up.

Natsu rushed through the halls of his hospital, Grandine hospital. It was a side business with a great profit but business was not something on his mind right now. He had received a call from Gildarts saying his mom had collapsed and he needed to get his ass in the hospital.

He found the door with 'Dr. Gildarts Clive' written on it and entered to see a ginger man in a hospital lab coat sitting on his chair going through some files. He looked up when the door to his cabin swung open and he saw the man he had been waiting for.

"You're here already? Faster than I expected. Come have a seat." Gildarts joked and giggled like a school girl and handed Natsu the files he was going through,

"This is not funny Gildarts! Is my mother okay?" Natsu asked in a very worried voice while taking a seat in front of Gildarts and accepting the file he was handing him.

"It's not a serious health problem. It's diabetes and arthritis, the common problems during old age, nothing a proper diet and some exercise can't solve. Your mother just needs to follow the diet plan my dietitian makes STRICTLY which, she never does. Natsu, these might be small problems right now but if they are not take care of right now, your mother will face a lot of problems in the future and I can guarantee that." The ginger explained, his voice growing serious. After a while of silence, Gildarts continued "Don't worry though, I have my best dietitian working on her case. Her name is Lucy, she's really good." Gildarts told Natsu and he could see Natsu's worried expression fade away and be replaced by that of a one with relief.

"Oh look! Lucy's here." Gildarts exclaimed looking towards the door of his cabin. Natsu got up from his seat and turned around to greet the doctor handling his mother's case but was surprised to see the blonde girl from yesterday.

"You're Ms. Lucy? Lucy Heartfelia? The one who's going to handle my mom's case?" Natsu asked in surprise. After yesterday, he was hoping he would never see the girl again.

"It's Dr. Heartfelia to you and I guess that I would be handling your mother's case." Lucy said. Not too fond to see the pinky either.

"OH MY GOD!" Natsu half screamed and half spoke

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hey everybody! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, I'm not a dietitian so; I might make some mistakes here and there. Feel free to correct me** **J** **Also, Natsu didn't know Lucy's until the hospital scene. You can crosscheck their old conversations if you want to.**

 **Please Review.**


	4. Chapter 25

**Chapter 2.5**

Gajeel wiped his brow after working on some car in the repairing garage he owned along with his father. It was lunch time and he closed the garage. Generally, he didn't close the garage. He would just eat whatever it was for lunch while working on cars but today was a special day. His shrimp was going to be home for lunch today. He wiped his hands full of grease with a cloth while grinning and thinking about seeing her. They were going to meet up at their favorite café in half an hour 'Plenty of time to shower and change' Gajeel thought to himself as he entered his and Metallicana's house which would soon be Levy's as well.

He entered the house to be greeted by Metallicana making lunch in the kitchen. "You know that I'll be eating out today, right? Why are you making so much?" Gajeel asked his father confused as to why had the master chef in Metallicana ha come out. His father replied with only two words, "Levy's here", which left Gajeel more confused. Gajeel just went to his room wondering why Levy decided to come home.

When he entered his room, he was greeted by his fiancé's back. "Hey babe! What are you doing he- Why are you crying love?" Gajeel asked as he sat besides his sobbing 'to be' wife and hugged her while she clenched on to his shirt and cried a little more before she spoke "I'm pregnant." She said while looking at Gajeel who kept on staring at her. He didn't know what to do or even what to say. A smile crept on his face, much to Levy's relief. He had never been happier.

'Do I even deserve so much happiness?' he thought to himself thinking about his past life as a street fighter but why was Levy crying? "I love you Levy. I'll be there for this baby, our baby, don't worry. Stop crying." Gajeel said while hugging and kissed her forehead.

"I don't know. I just don't know if I can do this or if we can do this or not. Do we even have the money to raise the kid considering the wedding's on our head? I just don't know where we go from here Gajeel." Levy explained to her to be husband. What she said made sense to Gajeel till some extent. He knew that they weren't the richest people in the world. The house Gajeel and Metallicana lived in wasn't too big and their only income was what they got from the garage and Levy's job as a teacher. They had been saving to have a decent wedding and now considering that he and Levy had a child on the way would force them so make some compromises.

"I know where we go from here. We go downstairs and have lunch with my father, break the news to him and all three of us can talk about this like a family." Gajeel answered Levy's question and from Levy's point of view, Gajeel had answered all her questions. She knew, at that moment, that he was the answer to her every question.

"Like a family?" Levy asked wiping her tears and looking up to Gajeel with a smile.

"Yes, like a family." Gajeel said with a grin and hugged her again. He had never been happier in his life. He had everything he ever asked for. Actually, he had more than he could ask for. When he suddenly felt a tear drop on his cheek he realized that he had begun crying. Yes, big almighty Gajeel was crying. He couldn't help but say "I love you Levy. Thank you." Which made her smile and say "I love you too Gajeel."

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **GaLe is my OTP! I mean, how can you not ship those two? They're too damn cute. Also, I'll be uploading every Sunday. I live in India so my Sunday might be another day for you. I know that this chapter is really short but I was busy as it was my birthday on Friday. Sorry.**

 **Thanks for reading and please review.**

 **THANK YOU FOR 550+ READS! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!**

 **SPECIAL THANKS TO** **pu3Aisyah FOR BEING A REGULAR REVIEWER. YOU MAKE ME THINK THAT SOMEONE'S READING MY STORY AND MOTIVATES ME TO WRITE REGULARLY.**


	5. Chapter 3

**A.N** - _THANKS FOR 1000+ VIEWS 3_

 **Chapter 3**

"So I guess you two know each other." Gildarts said, not looking up from the diet chart Lucy had prepared, checking if Lucy had done a mistake or not. Which she had not. She was the best dietician amongst his employees.

"Unfortunately." Natsu grunted as he looked at the brown eyed blond and asked "So, you're the best huh?!"

"I guess so." Lucy replied looking him right in the eye as she folded her arms. 'Why do I run into him all the time?' Lucy thought to herself as she wished she had taken a leave.

"Then become my mother's personal dietician. I want the best for her and since you are the best, I want you. " Natsu said with a straight face pointing his index finger at Lucy when his sentence ended. Lucy was confused as to why this guy had so many mood swings. He was worse that a PMS-ing woman. She looked at Natsu's face to see him impatiently waiting for an answer.

"What makes you think I'm going to quit my job because a stranger asked me to work for him?" Lucy asked, confident that her comeback question would shut him up.

"I own the place baby doll." Natsu said with a smirk, folding his arms. Lucy's jaw dropped is surprise. 'He's got to be kidding' she thought. "I don't think she believes me. Tell her Gildarts." Natsu was practically doing a victory dance inside of his head. He was winning this argument.

"He owns the place." Gildarts said in a mono-tone voice still comparing Grandine's previous files to each other.

"So, would you like to work for me Ms. Heartfelia?" Natsu asked with a huge grin pasted on his face. He won.

"I decline." Lucy said and started to walk away. She had to check the lunch trays that were to be given to the patients. When she was about to open the door, she turned around and spoke, "It's Dr. Heartfelia for you."

"Hey Gildarts! I call an emergency meeting to discuss our hospital's staff. Contact the other heads." Natsu said with a pretty serious look on his face. He was going to hire this Lucy Heartfelia. He wanted his mother to be treated by the best and if she was the best, he wanted her to treat his mother.

Gildarts just sighed and picked up the receiver of his telephone to arrange a meeting 'This boy is crazy' he just sighed.

Lucy was tired after her day at work. Especially after seeing a certain pinky, she was exhausted. She reached her apartment she shared with her brother. She was about to ring the bell but realized that the door was open. Let's just say that Sting is a careless person unaware of his surroundings. She couldn't help but sigh at her brother's stupidity.

Lucy entered the apartment she called home with her bag in one hand and a pile of bills in another. It was the 30th of April, the month end, which meant bills! Water, electricity, gas, Wi-Fi, rent, phone and credit card. You name it, the bill's there. Lucy could swear that the months grew shorter and shorter. Lucy took off her shoes and entered the living room to see her brother looking at a piece of paper with confusion in his eyes.

"What happened brother?" Lucy asked slapping the bills on the table and throwing her bag on the couch as she sat opposite of Sting.

"When I came home this thing was attached to the door. It says that we have to vacant the house by tomorrow. Were you fired?" Sting asked. The room was silent. Neither of the two spoke. It was true that they were a happy household but they did struggle with funds. Both of them didn't go to very prestigious colleges. They paid for their college tuition by working three jobs a day as they didn't have parents to support them. Since they had both passed college last year, they weren't very high up in their carriers. Half of their monthly income went on bill and they put some of the remaining money in a savings account as they wished of buying their own house. The news of Lucy getting fired shocked them. They were devastated.

Lucy began to sob trying to hold back her tears. She knew who did this. It was Natsu. She was one hundred percent sure that it was the pink headed bastard who was doing this to her. Different thoughts pooled around in her mind. What should we do next? Why did this happen at this time? Why so suddenly? Why her? Why did Gildarts let Natsu fire her so easily?

'Gildarts? He's the one I need to bash for all this!' Lucy thought as she picked up her cell phone to call Gildarts with pure intension of getting her job back. She was ready to beg if that was necessary.

"Hello? What makes you call me Miss Heartfelia?" Gildarts asked.

"You fired me. That happened Gildarts! What's going on? You know how much I need this job. That Mr. Dragneel is taking out his revenge, right? Is this all because I refused to work with him? And why do I need to vacant the house by tomorrow? Couldn't you have given me a week or so? You know of my situation but still…" Lucy said. She couldn't hold back her tears anymore. Sting looked at his sister with concerned eyes as he got up from his seat to put a hand on her back, rubbing it, trying to calm her down.

"Natsu called an emergency staff. During which, you were fired as Natsu brought a new doctor who is from one of the biggest med schools and is willing to work at a lower salary than yours. The rest of the committee thought that Natsu's proposal was better and agreed upon it. I tried to do my best to stop the decision. You're like a daughter to me Heartfelia. Don't worry though, Natsu's offer for you is still open and he's willing to pay you twice your salary. He has a great family too so you will be working in a pretty good environment. You get to keep the house too! If you were to ask me, I would say that it's a great offer. You should consider it." Gildarts said all in one go as if he had rehearsed it a number of times.

Lucy fell silent on the other end of that phone. The offer didn't seem half as bad when Gildarts talked about it. She needed the money and double of what she earned at the hospital was a dream come true for her and her brother.

"When do I start?" Lucy asked.

The next day Lucy entered the hospital in her casual wear instead of her uniform. What she wore during her days as an employee at the hospital can't necessarily be called a uniform. It was basically what the nurses wore. It consisted of wearing red scrubs and white nurse shoes. The nurses and doctors were supposed to wear their hair in a bun but it didn't apply to her. Today was different. Lucy was wearing her light pink summer dress which reached her knees along with a dark brown belt. Her dark brown wedges, which matched her belt, clicked as she walked through the floor which had Gildarts' office.

She saw the ebony door with 'Dr. Gildarts Clive' written on it. She opened the door hoping to see her boss along with a pink headed idiot but was instead greeted with a girl with platinum blond hair who could pass as a model. Wait, she was a model! Lucy recognized her as Mirajane Strauss. She was a huge fan. "You're Mirajane, right? Mirajane Strauss? I'm a huge fan!" Lucy exclaimed closing the door and taking a seat next to the star model.

Mirajane just giggled at Lucy's reaction, "Good to know people still recognize me." Mirajane was a huge hit when Victoria's Secret first launched her. After that, her fame grew and grew. She did magazine covers, hosted talk shows, appeared in advertisements and even did a few cameos in movies. Even though she was so big in the modeling industry, she had quit more than a year ago for unknown reasons. "You must be Lucy. Dr. Lucy Heartfelia, right?" Mirajane asked much to Lucy's astonishment.

"How come you know me? Did Gildarts tell you? Where is he anyway?" Lucy asked just noticing her boss was missing from his own office.

"Gildarts had to help out with a patient's surgery and won't be back for a while. As far as me knowing your name goes, I was sent here by Natsu. I'm currently working as his assistant and he wants me to deliver you his mother's schedule. He wanted me to personally inform you a few things. So before I came, he told me that a hyper active blonde goes by the name Dr. Lucy Heartfelia. That's how I assume you're her." Mira said with a smile and pulled out a file and a diary.

'Hyper active blonde, huh?' Lucy thought to herself as she cringed. "Wait! You're working as Mr. Dragneel's assistant?" Lucy asked confused as of the reason why Natsu would hire a model to be his assistant.

"Yes, I do. Is there any problem with it?" Mirajane asked with a really confused look on her face. She didn't quite get what was wrong with working as an assistant to somebody. After all, the pay was great.

"Nothing's wrong with it. I was just asking," Lucy replied sighing. She understood the fact that her question went over the model's head so she just shifted the topic "So what did Mr. Dragneel want you to say to me anyway?" asked the blond looking at the diary and the file.

"He wanted me to personally inform you about his mother's schedule, her liking and disliking when it comes to food and things she's allergic to. He had also asked me to give you this diary. He wants you to note down what Grandine, Natsu's mother, eats on an everyday basis." Mirajane explained handing over Lucy a red diary and a green file.

Lucy opened the file to see a lined sheet and raised a brow as to how detailed the schedule was. It was something like:

 _8:00 A.M. – Mom wakes up  
8:05 A.M. – Mom brushes her teeth  
8:20 A.M. – Mom goes for a bath  
9:00 A.M. – Mom tends to the garden  
9:40 A.M. – Mom helps Juvia in the kitchen  
10:00 A.M. – Mom has breakfast  
10:30 A.M. – Mom packs Wendy's lunch  
11:00 A.M. – Mom helps Juvia clean the kitchen  
12 noon to 2:00 P.M. – Mom takes a nap  
2:15 P.M. – Mom calls Wendy  
3:00 P.M. – Mom has lunch  
4:00 P.M. – Mom helps Juvia clean the kitchen  
5:00 P.M. – Mom talks to Wendy about college  
5:30 P.M. – Mom calls uncle Metallicana and Levy  
6:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. – Mom reads a book or watches television or browse the web  
7:30 P.M. – Mom has tea with snacks  
8:30 P.M. – Mom has dinner  
10:00 P.M. – Mom sleeps_

 ** _MOM IS ALLERGIC TO SOY!_**

"Isn't this awfully detailed?" Lucy asked as she didn't quite understand how the time at which Natsu's mom brushed her would help her do her job better.

"Natsu is pretty attached to his family so whenever something happens to one of his family members, he goes all out. Don't mind him. He's just worried about Grandine." Mira answered with a smile.

Lucy couldn't help but smile either. She didn't know that Natsu had a soft spot too. She looked back at the piece of paper attached in the file and noticed how it was handwritten. 'So, Mr. Dragneel is family oriented? Never would've guessed. So this means there are still a few rich guys out there who care about their families.' Lucy thought to herself as she kept on staring at that piece of paper. Lucy then asked Mira, "So, Wendy is Dr. Dragneel's sister and Mrs. Grandine Dragneel is his mother, right?"

"Mh-hm!" Mira nodded and continued, "Juvia Loxar is the cook and they also have a maid named Virgo. Metallicana is Grandine's older brother. Also, Mr. Dragneel said that you'll be working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can leave after giving the details of what Grandine needs to have to the cook."

"This seems fine to me. So, when do I start?" Lucy asked thinking it won't be a hard job considering they have a cook.

"Today!" Mira answered with a smile and much to Lucy's dismay, she had work today.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **I know I'm two days late so, I apologize for that and for the lack of NaLu in this chapter. I just needed a few chapters to establish the story so from the next chapter, you'll be seeing more of Natsu and Lucy. My summer break is starting from the 7th of May so i'll be uploading more frequently. 2 chapters a day too maybe.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **SPECIAL THANKS to SunflowerChrysalis for beig a consistent reviewer! You're AMAZING!**


	6. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"And this is Aubrey with her favourite stuffed animal. Isn't she cute?" Mira asked showing Lucy the pictures of her two month old baby daughter.

"She's so cute! I can't wait to meet this little angel." Lucy exclaimed not moving her eyes from the blond haired and blue eyed baby girl. Lucy had been looking at pictures of Mira's daughter for the past ten minutes as they were in the backseat of a taxi travelling to 'The Dragneel' residence. Through these ten minutes, Lucy was shown pictures and videos of Aubrey. She even came to know that Mira gave up being a model as she wanted to spend more time with her daughter and hence, she took a comparatively easy job of being an assistant to Natsu. Natsu is an old friend of Mira's husband so it was easy for Mira to get the job.

"Why don't you come over to my house for tea this weekend? A few of my friends and I host these weekly tea parties every weekend. You should definitely come!" a smiling Mira said as she put her phone back in her pocket.

"I would love to but my best friend is supposed to get married in a few months time so I need to help her with her wedding preparations. You know how hectic these events are?" Lucy answered declining Mira's offer as she had to help Levy with her wedding.

"I know, right? I remember when I got married to Laxus. I wanted us to get married at one of those venues in the middle of the forest. You know, like the one in twilight? But my husband denied. He was afraid that a wild animal would gobble up a guest. He's so silly." Mira answered by explaining her complains about her marriage. Not her fault though. The wedding venue used in the movie was beautiful.

Instead of replying Lucy just decided to giggle in response and asked, "How far is this place? Does Mr. Dragneel live up a mountain or something?" as she looked out the window to find very posh houses. They only got bigger and bigger and more beautiful as the car travelled further. Instead of getting a reply, the car stopped in front of a pearl white house.

"We're here Lucy!" Mira exclaimed. Lucy's jaw dropped. The house was beautiful. Even beautiful sounds more of an understatement. Lucy was about to ask Mira the number of people that live in the house but was cut off when Mira said "Sorry to say but I won't be joining you inside the house. There's a lot of work for me to do at the office since its Natsu's day off. Don't worry though the family's really sweet."

"Really? I just wish my day goes well. I was pretty nervous to begin with. You know, working for a billionaire family isn't something I'm used to and to top it, I just came to know that Mr. Dragneel is at leave. Mr. Dragneel and I don't really get along well." Lucy said looking down at her lap while she fiddled with the hem of her dress. She was a nervous wreck.

"Don't worry. You'll have a great first day and I know that. You just need to get into Grandine's good books and Natsu shall never bug you again! All the best though." Mira comforted Lucy which made her smile and nod in agreement "I'll try and do my best, Thanks Mira!" Lucy replied.

Lucy entered the property after going through some serious security check. She had never seen such strict security anywhere else but airports. When she entered she was awe struck. There were cars lined up on the left side of the house which were being washed by someone wearing all white. Lucy walked on a wide marble path which was surrounded by finely cut grass and differently colored flowers. She then entered the house so see a beautiful living room and saw a family of three having breakfast. She had never seen such a quite breakfast table in her whole life. It was so quiet that even if someone were to drop a pin, the dropping sound would echo.

"Madam, I think there's someone at the door." A pink haired girl in a maid uniform said to Grandine while pouring her more coffee. The family of three looked over at the entrance but only one spoke up, "Oh! It's you Ms. Heartfelia. I'm sorry; I wasn't expecting you to come at this point of time." Natsu apologized, wiping his face with a napkin.

"Please don't apologize. I'll wait till you're done. I would not want to disturb you." Lucy replied trying to be in her best manners. She was afraid that this would be one of those strict rich families she saw in K-Dramas.

"Very well then, Virgo will lead you to my office. Please wait there till I finish my breakfast." Natsu replied looking at Lucy and then he turned towards Virgo and said, "Please lead Ms. Heartfelia to my office. Thank you."

Lucy sat opposite the table which nobody could see. The table was cluttered with papers, books and files. Except for that, she was impressed by Natsu choice of colours. Except for that, she would give all the credit to her brother. By one look at the room, one could say that hard work was put into the making of it. The room had huge glass double doors and the rest of the interior was brown. There was a huge table, which was cluttered, with a pure black computer plopped on it. There was a dark brown 'boss chair' facing the front of the computer and opposite of the boss chair were two single seat sofas, on one of which Lucy was sitting.

The two walls on the left and right side of the room were covered with book shelves containing different colored files. On the wall facing the back of the supposedly 'boss seat' were certificates verifying Natsu's education. The one which really caught her attention was from 'The London School of Economics'. Apparently, Natsu was a business major from there and Lucy was impressed. Let's just say that Lucy is the kind of girl who's impressed by intelligence.

Since Natsu wasn't here yet, Lucy decided to pick up her phone and log into her Facebook account. When she opened it, she saw that there was a friend request from Mirajane. She accepted and proceeded to opening Mira's profile. Mira's display picture was of her and Aubrey. Aubrey was giving Mira a kiss on the cheek in the picture. Lucy, being the stalker she is, opened Mira's pictures. There were many albums but she decided to go through her wedding album titled 'Our Wedding! 3 11th May 2015'. First thing that crossed Lucy's mind was 'Wow! They've been married for only a year and they have a kid too? Was Mira a pregnant bride?' Lucy then shifted her gaze to the pictures.

The first picture was of Mira wearing her wedding dress. To say she was looking beautiful was an understatement. She had a strapless and puffy white gown. She had her hair in a side braid with little pink sequins attached to it. Her makeup was on point and she looked gorgeous. She then continued to go through the photographs. She spotted Natsu in some of the pictures. What really shocked her was that Levy was in some of the pictures too and so was Gajeel. 'Note to self: Ask Levy about how she knows Mirajane.' Lucy thought ho herself and then proceeded with scrolling.

"I've heard that stalking isn't a very good habit to have Ms. Heartfelia." Natsu spoke which made Lucy go "Uggghhh! And startling people is a very good habit?" Lucy half shouted and half spoke clearly shocked by the sudden appearance of Natsu Dragneel.

"It might not be a habit of mine but I do enjoy scaring people and by the look on your face, I can say that I pretty much succeeded." Natsu said smirking as he walked towards his seats opposite of Lucy. As Natsu took a seat he spoke again, "So, let's talk business." He said as he picked up a file which Lucy recognized as Grandine's file she submitted to Gildarts. Natsu opened the file and asked, "First things first. Why does my mom need to have so less sugar? No coffee or wine? She really likes white wine and why no butter or cheese? You've even written here that she needs to minimize the amount of meat in her diet. Where will she get her protein from? Why are you turning my mother into a herbivorous cow?"

"Sorry to break this to you Mr. Dragneel but all cows are herbivorous. And I know what I'm doing. If you want me to explain to you why you mother needs to cut off so many things off her diet then I'm ready to give you a lecture on human well being and diet. But, if you think that I'll allow you mother to include those things in her diet then that's not happening. The two of us want you mother to be healthy and fit as soon as she can so, I won't be entertaining any stupid questions from your side. I hope that I've made myself clear and lastly, it's Dr. Heartfelia for you." Lucy said glaring her eyes towards Natsu. She heard these questions from her patients often but there was something about him that made her cringe.

Natsu just sighed at Lucy's reply and said, "I knew that you would behave like a know it all dumb blond chick during some point of the conversation so I asked Juvia to tell you about the guidelines. She'll be in the kitchen downstairs. Go talk to her." After which he just turned on his computer and completely ignored Lucy.

"Excuse me? What do you mean by 'dumb blond'?" Lucy asked with a very pissed expression on her face. She didn't understand why he was behaving so rude.

"Just get out of here, will you? Dr. Heartfelia!" Natsu said in a cold voice. Lucy was confused. It's true that they were rude to each other but it was always in a comedic manner. Nothing as bad as today. Lucy didn't reply. She just got up from her seat, picked up her bag and left.

When Lucy left Natsu's home office, she was in the mood of taking a taxi to her old work place, find Gildarts and quit her job working as a 'personal' dietician but she was stopped in her tracks when she saw a white haired woman looking at her with sad eyes. "Mrs. Dragneel? Hi I'm Lucy Heartfelia. I suppose we didn't have the chance of being formally introduced before." Lucy smiled and said trying to be as polite as she could be.

"No need to act as if nothing had happened dear. I heard your conversation with Natsu and I would like to apologize on my son's behalf. He's actually a very nice person but today I don't know want got into him." Grandine apologized with a sad smile on her face. Lucy was pretty much shocked. She didn't expect Grandine to apologize to her.

"Y-you don't need to apologize to me ma'am. It's totally okay." Lucy said. She didn't really understand what was going on.

"You're really sweet, you know? I just want to ask you for a favor if it's alright with you." Grandine asked looking at Lucy with sad eyes. Lucy couldn't say no to the sad eyes so she nodded in agreement and just said "Sure!"

Grandine gave Lucy a smile and said, "I want to ask you to not judge him for what he did today. He's actually a very nice person. He's the kind of boy that'll make you proud, try his best to not hurt anyone and he's a lovely boy, trust me. It's only on this day that he acts a little passive aggressive. Today's the death anniversary of his father, Igneel, and his older brother, Zeref." Lucy was shocked. She felt guilty for judging Natsu now.

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hello lovely people! I hope you liked this chapter. The next chapter is going to be full of NaLu moments so stay tuned ;) I would also like to talk about two things:**

 **I didn't do a chapter 3.5 because i got mixed reviews about the chapters with other pairings. I was gonna do a Sting X Yukino but I decided that I would ask you guys about it. So, please tell me your thoughts on that.**

 **Instead of updating every Sunday, I'll be uploading every Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be according to the time zone followed in my country, India. Since most of my readers are from different countries, I would suggest comparing the time zones.**

 **I hope you enjoyed! Bye :D**


	7. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"I'm really sorry for your loss." Lucy said as she took a sip from her cup of tea. She was sitting on a chair of the dining table along with Grandine and Juvia. Grandine had just finished telling both Juvia and Lucy the story about how two of her loved ones were deceased.

"He still doesn't share his feeling with anyone?" asked a very worried Juvia who hadn't touched her tea since Grandine had started the story.

"No, not with me or anyone else and it really breaks my heart to see him like this. Wendy was only a year old but Natsu could understand the circumstances. My little boy grew up way too fast after that…" Grandine said as she wiped a tear rolling down her cheek.

"I feel so bad for acting so rude towards your son Grandine. I wish I could do something to make it up to him." said a very guilty Lucy. She just wanted to make it up to him. She didn't know why but she wanted to. Maybe because she was a good person or maybe she just knew how it felt. She was lost in her thoughts when an idea came to her head, "Do you have a microwave at your house?" Lucy asked Grandine with a smile on her face. Grandine just nodded as she wiped all of her tears.

"Great! Hey Juvia, can you show me around the kitchen?"

It had been almost two hours since the little quarrel between Natsu and Lucy. Natsu was still sitting in the same chair doing nothing but scribbling on a paper, trying to take out his frustration. Truth be told, he felt bad for being rude towards Lucy. He wanted to apologize but he wanted to wait till the next day as he didn't want to screw thing up more. With that thought, he opened the first drawer of his table and dug around a little till he found a sealed packet of cigarettes. He opened the box and took out two of them, stuffed them in the pocket of his jeans and walked out of his home-office and to the garden. This was the best time according to him since Wendy wasn't home and his mom was asleep.

He was standing in the garden with a lit cigarette between his lips as he looked down at the ground as his mind was tangled in a bunch of 'What ifs'. He wasn't paying any attention to the surrounding world, he was just lost in his madness. The madness of losing someone too close to his heart.

Natsu finished his first cigarette and smashed it in the ash tray. He took out the second one and was about to light it when he heard a familiar voice sat, "It isn't really good to smoke, you know."

Natsu just sighed. He was in no mood for human contact but replied anyways, "I hope you know that I pay you to take care of my mother and not me." said Natsu as he put the un-lit cigarette inside of his pocket. He was not going to smoke in front of a person he didn't know was comfortable being around smokers or not. You know? Chivalry. He then continued, "I don't smoke much anyways." With that he turned towards the blonde to see her standing there smiling with her hands behind her.

Lucy just fake-laughed and said "Says every person who smokes." Natsu chuckled and stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked a few steps closer Lucy. When he came closer, he realized that she was holding a plastic container of some sort. Out of curiosity he asked, "What's inside?"

Lucy brought her hands forward, handed the box to Natsu and said "I made something for you to apologize for today. I didn't know what this day meant to you."

Natsu looked at the box which Lucy was handing to him. To be clear, he was surprised. He expected her to come here and go all 'She-Hulk mode' on him but instead, he got cookies. After looking at her smiling face he accepted the box and said, "Thank you." with a smile on his face. He was opened the box to find a bunch of cookies and with the revelation of cookies, a smile appeared on his face. He took two cookies out of the box and ate them at once while Lucy was looking at him, giggling.

"I'm glad you liked it!" Lucy said with a smile and then continued, "I can't say that I understand the loss of a sibling but I truly understand what losing a parent means. I've lost both of them." Natsu was shocked. He put the box of cookies on the patio table and looked at Lucy. She was still smiling, he just didn't know if it was a forced one or not. Natsu didn't know what to do. Suddenly, he felt guiltier for lashing out on her in the morning. He wanted to apologize but when he opened his mouth to say something, Lucy cut him off by saying, "There's no need to say 'I'm sorry' It's not your fault and even though it saddens me, I have learnt to live with it. I used to be just like you, I spent every day weeping and drove myself into a corner but one day my then boyfriend and now ex-boyfriend said something great to me. He said that 'Whenever you weep for the loss of someone, try and remember how sad they got when you shed a tear and remember how happy they were to see you smile. So, smile for their happiness because they're looking from up there." Lucy finished her piece of philosophy with pointing a finger at the sky and looking up along with Natsu. Natsu had a pretty genuine smile on his face. He actually was somewhat happy to see someone trying so hard to make him smile.

"I had chicken pox that day so I stayed home instead of going to school." Natsu suddenly started to speak. Lucy just listened to her since she knew what he meant by 'that day' since she had listened to the same story before from Grandine. Natsu then continued, "My dad finished his job early and decided to pick Zeref from school and walk home with him together. The light was red! The light was FUCKING red Lucy!" At this point you could see a tear falling from his eye. "The light was red but some rich guy with some fancy car decided to run a red light and you know what happened? You know… what happens..." At this point Natsu was full on crying like a helpless baby.

Lucy put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It's okay. You don't have to continue Natsu." Natsu looked at Lucy and hugged her and cried. It is true that they didn't know each other well. It is true that they quarreled a few hours ago. It is also true that Natsu somehow had a feeling of comfort in the strangers' arms of someone he had only known for a few days.

After a few minutes, when it all calmed down, Natsu escaped Lucy's arms and smiled at her. She smiled back and said, "You're not half as bad as I thought Natsu." With that she sat on a nearby chair placed on the patio and Natsu followed her and sat next to her. When he sat down he said, "You're a good person too, Lucy. So, Friends?"

"Friends!" Lucy smiled at him and he smiled back. Then Natsu picked up the box of cookies of off the table, opened it and said, "Now that we're friends, let me tell you that you should never cook something again. I mean this is disgrace in the name of cookies. It's like the Donald Trump of cookies." And with that Natsu started to laugh.

Lucy just punched him jokingly on his shoulder and said, "Be a little more appreciative! I made you something at least!" which made Natsu pull his tongue out at her.

Little did the two innocent souls know that someone was standing and listening to their conversation from far away. A picture was also taken when they were hugging. They were in trouble.

Mira was on the phone with the owner of the daycare Aubrey went to while her parents were at work, "I think you should let her sleep some more till Laxus' father comes to pick her up. I've called him and he will be on the way." "Yeah! He'll do the payment for the next month as well." "Really? Asuka's going to kindergarten already? They sure grow up fast!" "Yeah sure! Talk to you later Bisca. Bye!"

After hanging up, Mira looked at her phone. A message had been sent to her. To be more precise, it was an image, accompanied by a message. Mira opened the message and she was shocked to see what was in it. She had a mischievous grin on her face as she read the message.

 _*Grandine sent an image*_

 _GRANDINE: They were hugging! They had an actual conversation! OMG they're so cute! Do you ship it?_

 _MIRA: Is this true? Because if this is, then I so ship it! I think we've got some matchmaking to do! I'm so excited! It's been so long since we played cupid!_

 _GRANDINE: Ikr? Our last targets were Erza and Jellal and they have a two year old kid now! I can't wait for the mission to start! ;)_

 _MIRA: This is gonna be so awe-some!_

Mira smirked to herself as she started to think of the many ways she could get them together. 'I can't wait to tell Laxus!"

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:-**

 **Hey! I'm sorry that I am like two weeks late. I was out on a vacation with my family. So, to make it up to you guys, I uploaded a long chapter :p**

 **Thanks to Sage Blackwood,** **fangirl4612** **and** **SingingAng for reviewing my previous chapter! :)**

el327


	8. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was now around 2 p.m. in the Dragneel residence and Lucy was in the kitchen sat upon a stool making a few changes in Grandine's eating time table while Juvia was making something for Natsu, Lucy, Virgo and her to eat for lunch. Lucy looked up at Juvia standing in a plain white dress with a spatula in her hand cooking as if it were art. Frankly speaking, Lucy was envious of Juvia for the way she cooks because a few minutes ago, her cookies were called shit by Natsu. "What are you making?" Lucy asked putting the diary Natsu gave her down and walking towards Juvia. When Lucy looked at the stove she saw that three of them were occupied and the kitchen counters were a mess.

"Kung pao chicken, egg fried rice and Sichuan prawns. Since Grandine is allergic to soy, Wendy and Mr. Dragneel don't really get the chance to eat Chinese food. So, I was requested by Mr. Dragneel to make something Chinese since Grandine will be having separate meals from today. By the way, have you decided on what to serve her? They have lunch in like an hour." Juvia asked Lucy and then continued, "Hey Virgo! Can you put this rice in a casserole please?" Juvia asked as she handed a pot full of rice to Virgo.

After listening to Juvia, Lucy nodded as she took out the diary Natsu gave to her to record Grandine's meals and read aloud what was written under Monday, "Stir fried veggies, plain rice and wheat grass water. Make sure to use olive oil for the vegetables. I guess that should be it." Lucy finished her sentence with a smile while Juvia gave her a horrified look.

"T-that's it? No side dish? No dessert?" Juvia asked acting as if Lucy had just demanded both her kidneys.

"Yeah why? I mean, she's a diabetic patient to begin with so I don't think dessert is a good idea. Also, this in Metformin, it's a drug prescribed by Gildarts." Lucy said as she showed Juvia the bottle of medicine and continued, "Since its 500 mg, she'll need to take this twice a day. So, once with breakfast and then with dinner. Also, keep her away from wine. At least for now." Juvia smiled at Lucy's seriousness for her job and started to boil another batch of rice.

Juvia was placing the casseroles and pots of the lunch she made at the dining table with Lucy helping along while Virgo served the food to Natsu while Grandine was waiting for her 'special' food to arrive.

"Woah! Loxar, the food looks great!" Natsu complimented Juvia's cooking as she just smiled and thanked him.

"This is for you Grandine!" Lucy said as she put down a tray of food in front of Grandine and gave her a grin.

Grandine just stared at the two big bowls, containing veggies and rice respectively and a glass of weird water. She looked up at Lucy with puppy dog eyes and asked, "Why don't I get prawns?"

"Because this is the healthiest option for you right now." Lucy explained.

"But I want prawns!" Grandine insisted.

"NO!" Lucy refused.

"Please!" Grandine asked again.

"I said no. Don't make me say that again." Lucy refused again.

"But prawns are my bae!" Grandine exclaimed, incorporating the new word Mira had taught her into her sentence.

"Listen, Grandine. If you be a good girl and eat your veggies now, you'll be rewarded by prawns later. Okay?" Lucy asked with a smile. She couldn't help but giggle at Grandine's childishness.

"Lucy's right about the food mom. It's just a matter of a few days and then you'll get used to the shitty food she serves you." Natsu said with a smirk as he put a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"The food I serve is not shitty Mr. Natsu Dragneel!" Lucy exclaimed which made Natsu and everyone around them laugh.

"So, where do we have lunch?" Lucy asked Juvia who was taking out three plates for the three ladies while Virgo was busy taking care of dirty utensils.

"Oh! Sorry that I forgot to tell you about that. There's a room attached to the kitchen and Grandine has made it so we can convert it into some kind of staff room. She didn't want us sitting around in kitchen all day." Juvia said as she gave Lucy a smile while Lucy didn't know how to react. A staff room? In a house? For the people working in the house? She had heard of servant quarters but a staff room? "Shall we go?" Juvia asked as she started walking towards a small door next to the pantry's door. Yes, this house had a walk in pantry as well.

Lucy couldn't really believe the fact that her brother didn't tell her about the supposedly 'staff room' which was of a pretty decent size. There were couches on the left side and on the right side there were counters with a coffee machine, a tea maker, a mini refrigerator and a small electric stove. Some of the counters had bar stools attached to them. It wasn't amazing but she somehow liked the fact that Grandine thought about them and made something. "This is a pretty good place." Lucy said to Juvia who was already sat on the couches with Virgo.

"It's convenient! There's also a washroom attached to this room so if you're late any day, you can just come here and shower. I did that this morning." Juvia said with a wink and started to giggle.

"So you got this late? I can totally relate with you. I can't wake up from a single alarm either!" saying that Lucy unlocked her phone and held it high for Juvia to see. "See! I SET AN ALARM FOR EVERY 5 MINUTES!"

Juvia just laughed and replied, "I'm sorry but I don't really have that problem but I had another job to go to in the morning so I got a little late coming from there." Listening to this Lucy face palmed in her mind at her stupidity but asked Juvia, "Why two jobs?"

"I actually work part time at a public pool. I was working as a children's instructor in evenings with my old job but since I joined here, I changed my shift to that of morning. And why I do two jobs is because I have fun swimming." Juvia answered with a smile and she continued to eat.

"Woah! I get so tired from one job that I don't really have the guts to go for another. Well done Juvia!" Lucy said as she patted Juvia's shoulder comically.

It was now around 5 p.m. and Lucy was walking out with a tray of food for Grandine. She saw Grandine reading a magazine while sitting on the sofa. Lucy put the tray down on the coffee table in front of Grandine and said, "Evening snack's here!"

Grandine looked up at Lucy then she looked down at the tray and said, "I eat at 7"

"You eat at 5 now." Lucy said as she sat down beside Grandine.

"If you say so but toast, fruits and teat isn't evening snacks you know? Generally Wendy and I have some cheese not avocados on a toast." Grandine said with puppy dog eyes hoping for a change in her food.

"No." Lucy said with a smile on her face while Grandine whined as she picked up her fork and started to eat the giant bowl of fruit.

"Mom, I'm home." Wendy came in from the door smiling as she held a paper in her hand.

"Hey Wendy! How was school?" Grandine asked as she patted on the empty seat next to her gesturing Wendy to sit next to her.

"School was great. Look, I got an A! I was so happy. I was awake till almost 3 a.m. working on it." Wendy said as she handed her paper to Grandine who took it gladly.

"I told you! You should never cram all the homework in one night." Grandine said as she patted Wendy's head in appreciation.

"Wendy's home!" Shouted Natsu as he ran towards Wendy with a white box Lucy knew too well. "I made you cookies" Natsu said as he took out a cookie and was just about to give it to Wendy but Lucy ran behind him and climbed on his back, "Natsu! Don't!" Lucy shouted but Natsu didn't really listen instead, he started walking with Lucy on his back and put the cookie in the confused Wendy's mouth.

Wendy chewed the cookie a few times with a neutral expression on her face while the three adults in the room looked at her as if she were to predict something on the lines of a zombie apocalypse. Suddenly, Wendy's face turned green as she got up from where she was sitting and shouted on Natsu, "You're never going in the kitchen again!" and with that Wendy ran toward the kitchen probably to get something better to have.

Natsu started to chuckle, turned towards Lucy and said, "You heard the kid." And showed her his tongue and Lucy just beat him and this time it wasn't mockingly.

Lucy then turned to Grandine and said, "I'll be leaving now. Please finish all the fruits and I've told Juvia what to make for dinner. So, bye Grandine!" and picked up her bag from the sofa.

Grandine got up from her seat and said, "Thank you for your help today sweetheart." As she smiled at Lucy and turned towards Natsu and said, "Be chivalrous and drop Lucy home, okay?"

"There's no need for this. I'll go home on my own." Lucy tried to refuse but Natsu caught her am and started to drag her out of the house. "What do you think you're doing?" Lucy asked clearly annoying.

"I'm doing what my mom asked me to do. Now, don't make my task difficult." Natsu explained as he continued dragging Lucy.

As soon as Natsu and Lucy were out of the house, Grandine smiled mischievously and dialed a number on her phone. "Hello Mira? You won't believe what happened today?"

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

 **Hey! I'm sorry that the story's a day late. One of my five subjects happen to be economics. Our first chapter was about India's economy during the colonial rule and since the British were here for almost 200 years, the chapter was gigantic and I had some homework regarding that chapter hence, the chapter being a day late.**

 **I'm sorry if this chapter isn't good enough. I'm not so happy with this either but anyway, can any of you guess who Lucy's ex boyfriend is? Don't worry there will be absolutely no love triangles but any guesses? (HINT: It isn't Dan because just no!)**

 **PLEASE REVIEW!**

 **Also, thanks to SingingAngel327 and SunflowerChrysalis for reviewing on almost all the chapters! You two make me want to write more :)**


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